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SEATTLE - Washington's newly converted hybrid-electric ferry, which began shuttling cars and passengers across the Puget Sound in July, will be out of service for the time being, after the ferry lost power due to a mechanical issue.
The Wenatchee, a vintage 1998 former-diesel ferry, is the largest hybrid-electric passenger vessel in North America, servicing the Seattle-Bainbridge Island route, which is the busiest route in the Washington State Ferries system.
Engine crews, maintenance teams and technicians at Eagle Harbor are currently working to determine the cause of the ferry's issues.
Why is the Wenatchee a big deal?
The backstory:
The conversion process to bring the Wenatchee from a diesel ferry to a hybrid-electric vessel took 22-months and cost $133 million. The Wenatchee is part of Washington State Ferries' aspiration to have a reliable and emission-free ferry fleet by 2050.
"To get there, we will expand the fleet by converting six existing vessels to hybrid-electric power, building 16 new hybrid-electric vessels and adding shore charging to 16 terminals," WSDOT said on its website.
The Ferry System Electrification Program is estimated to cost $3.98 billion. $1.68 billion is currently funded, including $1.03 billion from Move Ahead Washington and $599 million from the Climate Commitment Act (CCA).
The purpose of this program was to save fuel and reduce air pollution.
Work to modernize the Wenatchee, including the long-planned upgrade to its aging propulsion system, modernized ship controls, and conversion to hybrid-electric power, was completed in July 2025.
In March 2025, WSDOT announced that midlife upgrades and conversion work on the Tacoma and Puyallup will be delayed until after the 2026 World Cup. This change is part of Governor Ferguson and WSF's plan to restore service to pre-pandemic levels.
What caused the ferry to lose power?
Timeline:
When the Wenatchee pulled into Colman Dock on Friday morning, two of the ferry's four drive motors unexpectedly tripped offline, causing the ferry to momentarily lose power. Although the motors came back on about a minute later, the technicians discovered the control system communication wires were creating intermittent instability, causing the motors to go offline. Issues such as these can be difficult to isolate, due to changes in certain speeds or operating conditions.
"While unexpected, issues like this are a normal part of a vessel commissioning and our teams are working hard to resolve the issue so we can perform sea trials, which, when successful, will allow the vessel to return to service," Washington State Ferries said.
Will the outage affect any travel plans?
Because the Seattle-Bainbridge Island route is the busiest in the ferry system, travel plans will not be affected, as the Walla Walla and the Tacoma ferries will continue to sail the route in the meantime.
The Source: Information in this story came from Washington State Ferries.
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